Federal Budget 2019

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Who are the winners and losers in the 2019 federal budget?

Finance Minister Bill Morneau unveiled the Liberal government’s final budget before the fall election on Tuesday.

It offers up a mixed bag of both benefits and potential consequences for Canadian stakeholders across a wide range of backgrounds.

Housing was a major focus of the budget with new measures proposed that the government argues will make it easier for millennials and first-time buyers to purchase a home.

While economists and critics differ on whether those measures will do what Morneau says they will, there are also a number of other ways the budget proposals will help — or potentially hurt — other Canadians.

Here are some of the winners and losers.

WINNERS

People with student loans

People with rare diseases

People looking to reduce their carbon footprint

Media and people who pay for it

LOSERS

People with employer stock options or big earnings

People hoping to buy edible cannabis products

Federal budget boost for municipalities

There's a $2.2 billion surprise in the federal budget for Canadian municipalities facing a long list of infrastructure needs and Mayor Jim Watson says it will mean a lot to Ottawa.

The government is taking that money from its gas tax revenue and sending it directly to local governments, to be used for everything from roadwork and public transit to environmental and cultural infrastructure projects.

The federal government already gives $2.2 billion to municipalities from its gas tax revenues — Tuesday's budget doubles that amount.

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The funding will come all at once and doesn't first have to go through provinces or territories.

"This is kind of a means for the federal government and municipalities to have a more direct relationship," said Sahir Khan, executive vice-president of the Institute for Fiscal Studies at the University of Ottawa.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) had asked for the federal budget to give them the tools to address local priorities.

The federation's president Vicki-May Hamm said in an emailed statement that the gas-tax funding would be important.

"For communities of all sizes, growing this transfer means better roads, bridges, transit, recreation centres and more. This is about empowering local governments to do what they do best," she said.